Okay, so chapter 8! I started this earlier, but my computer shut off by itself, so now I'm rewriting it... Ah, well, I'm not as pissed about this than I was when I was writing my Psych fic... I had just gotten on a roll when all of a sudden the screen went blue. To answer your question, 'Krazed, no, I didn't kill her, but only because I wouldn't be able to afford our apartment by myself. I did, however, take advantage of the fact that she is a heavy sleeper, and poured those ice cream topper things on her face while she slept. You know, chocolate, caramel, butterscotch, sprinkles, whipped cream, and a marachino cherry, the works. She didn't wake up, and looked rather tasty. (Evil Grin) And I just have to say, whipped cream, $2, Bottled toppings, $3 each, cherries, $6, her face in the morning, priceless! Okay, on to the story!
Title: Proving Them Right
Pairing: KakakakakakakakakakakakaNarunarunarunarunarunaru (Do you know how fun it is to type that?)
Warnings: Yaoi and gore galore! And you may actually see some of the gore this chater, if I feel like it...
Disclaimer: Kishimoto was supposed to give me the Naruto characters for my birthday, but, instead, he gave me plushies. So, until the cheapskate keeps his promise, I don't own Naruto... (pouts and cuddles plushies)
Chapter 8
Recap
Finally, after a few minutes, his stomach calmed down enough to ask. "W-who is your new friend?" It was said casually, as if he didn't care, even though disgust and hatred coursed through his body at the unknown traitor.
As if on cue, another clang and more footsteps bounced around the soggy walls, and a strangely familiar voice said, "Hello, Kakashi-san."
The prisoner gasped, and pointed an accusing finger at the figure. "You." He hissed.
Sai looked at the silver haired man with amusement, "Yes, me. Points for originality." The boy said sarcastically, examining his flawless fingernails. Eien watched the exchange with a grin.
"I take it you know each other?" He asked both ninja, though he already knew the answer.
"Ah, Eien-sama, my presence may surprise him, but the fact that those two are here will make him question his sanity. Besides the fact one is supposed to be dead, and the other is considered a mass murderer, I read his record, and he was his taicho." Sai murmured to the blond. whose smile turned slightly demonic. Kakashi wondered who those two were, and which of his former teammates is him.
"An excellent idea! Brilliant! Remind me to tell Haku to give you a bonus before you go back to Konoha. I suppose I should summon them now, before he guesses who we're talking about." Eien bit his thumb ruthlessly, and rubbed his blood on the grimy wall of the cavern. In moments a small red fox, about the size of a kitten, 'poof'-ed into existence.
"Hello Chihiru, could you please get Weasel and Tiger for me, and tell them to come down to the dungeons?" He asked the fox politely. The small kitsune grinned, showing off abnormally sharp teeth.
"Sure boss-man, but first, I have a message from Kyuubi-sama, he says you're gonna have some fun with the mortal, and asks that you mentally record his reaction so that my Lord can watch it whenever he wants." Chihiru's voice was feminine and musical.
"Fine, fine. Oh, could you also ask Gaara to check on the jutsus on the children's memories, at the last city it was removed somehow, and that was a disaster. I do not want a repeat." Eien ordered, and Chihiru bowed her head slightly before disappearing.
Kakashi watched all of this in interest, his still slightly foggy brain taking in information, and something clicked.
"Sai called you Eien-sama, you called the Kazekage by his name, and you have the most powerful and abundant chakra I have ever encountered, save for the Kyuubi no Kitsune himself. You don't work for the Kazekage, do you? He works for you." The dazed ninja murmured, and Eien raised an eyebrow.
"My, aren't you a sharp one? Most wouldn't pick up on that, or would dismiss it as impossible. Yes, the new Kazekage is not the one in charge. But he is not the only Kage I have in my power... Sai!" The raven jumped as he was addressed. He was enjoying the blond's obvious flaunt of power.
"Yes?" He asked finally.
"Could you please tell our... guest what other kages call me their master?" Was the order, and Sai obliged with glee.
"The Mizukage of Kirigakure, the Raikage of Kumogakure, the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, the Otokage of Oto, the Hoshikage of Hoshigakure, and the leader of Amegakure, which lacks a kage title. Not to mention the various small towns that are not considered Hidden villages. Eien's power reigns over all but Konohagakure." He said smugly, watching Kakashi's face pale steadily with each title that was held by one of Eien's minions.
"I-impossible." The man could finally gasp. Before either Eien or Sai could respond, the door creaked open, and two sets of footsteps made their way to the three men.
Once they stepped into the light, they were revealed to be the two ANBU that were with Eien as he visited his old apartment. Kakashi stared at the figures, and noticed that deep in the recesses of the eye holes, both men's irises were made of red backgrounds, with commas spinning madly. This was too much for the Konoha ANBU. He began to talk heatedly to himself.
"No. No no no. Not possible. This is all just an odd dream. I'll wake up in my bed, and none of this will have happened. Naruto Uzumaki died in the woods, unable to care for himself. The Kazekage didn't come to visit. Sai did not defect. THE LAST TWO UCHIHAS ARE DEAD!" He roared, and all but Eien flinched at the sudden volume. The captured nin started to struggle against his bonds, tearing at the lock around his ankle.
Eien sighed as he watched the crazed man for a few more moments, then turned to his companions.
"And I didn't even have you remove your masks. What an easily distressed person. I suppose` we will leave him to his ravings for now. Sai, you need to return to Konoha before they notice your absence, and if you can, come u with some excuse for this lunatic's disappearance. Tell Haku to give you this much as a bonus for the idea that drove our dear guest mad." Holding out a piece of paper, Eien handed it to the raven, who nodded before being engulfed by chakra smoke.
Shooting one last glance at the now dramatically sobbing jounin, Eien led Weasel and Tiger back to the surface.
It had been three days when Eien finally reentered the dungeon. The girls he had sent to bring meals to the prisoner all reported the same thing. The man pumped them for information, which they all refused to give him. One told the 'master' that she had heard the man come to a decision about Sai.
Apparently the jounin thought the Ne operative was a spy sent by Danzo to see what he could find out about Suna, and had gotten a whole lot more information than thought possible.
Too bad he was wrong. He knew that Ne operatives were loyal to the person that held power, he just didn't realize that Eien held more power than Danzo could ever dream possible, and Sai had realized that. Not to mention Kyuubi could detect lies.
As Eien made his way down into the damp chamber, he met the slightly crazed obsidian eye of his captive.
With a flourish, he set down the tray that held the man's breakfast. "I didn't think you would break so fast." He quipped, and was met with a blank eyed stare. "You're no fun, really, Hatake-san, you weren't awake even an hour before you went insane. Where is the fun in that? Was it such a shock? Sai took it well when I told him, you just seem to have a weaker mind." Eien goaded, trying to draw Kakashi into a fight, or to talk, anything. No reaction.
Until he said, "You know, once I had calmed down, about a year after I left, someone was able to convince me that Konoha wasn't all at fault, and that there was no need for revenge. I believed him, I was really going to let it go, live my life peacefully with that man.
"W-what happened?" Kakashi croaked, interested in this insight into the mind of the man that ruled the continent. Blue eyes met black, deadly serious, and the teenager began his story, the gourmet food forgotten.
Flashback: 9 Years Ago
"Tetsu-san! Tetsu-san!" The excitable blond six year old tackled the man's knees as he walked into the small cabin. The man was tall, almost 6' 6'', around 45, with laugh lines etched around his sparkling green eyes and thin lips. His laugh echoed over the desert dunes as he bent down to embrace the child.
"Naruto." His voice rumbled like thunder on the horizon, and the child felt like he could listen to it forever. "I was only gone for a day. You couldn't have possibly missed me that much."
Naruto shook his head quickly. "Tetsu-san, you went to Konoha. People there are evil. I was worried." He claimed, and caused the man to sigh.
"Naruto, you are too young to mistrust so easily. There is some good that resides in the Village Hidden In The Leaves." He murmured, and the boy looked defiant.
"Oh yeah? Name one person, just one, that wouldn't judge me because I hold Kyuu inside me." Blue eyes were far too old, far too hard, to match the chubby face they were set in.
Tetsu immediately said, "Hokage-sama." and flashed a triumphant grin at Naruto's pout.
"No fair, I meant anyone but Jiji. That's-" The boy froze, and lifted his nose to the air, inhaling like an animal. "I don't know who they are, but they're coming, and they're not happy." He finally said, and the man got the gist. His green eyes widened with shock, then narrowed with anger.
"Naruto, go hide, and don't come out, no matter what you hear. Even if I am screaming, you must promise me that you won't come to my aid." When Naruto refused to make such a promise, the older man could only do what he had to. He quickly stuck a senbon, that was previously hidden in the sleeve of his robe, into a nerve in the boy's neck.
The world faded from Naruto's sight, and the last thing he heard was, "You will understand someday, but for now, Naruto, live, and be happy, it's what your parents would have wanted."
The blond woke hours later to find he had been stashed in the secret chamber below the living room rug. He clambered out, and realized hours had passed since Tetsu had knocked him unconcious, that it was dark outside. And something didn't feel right. "Tetsu-san?" He called nervously. He wondered room to room, finally coming to the entrance hall. That was where he found them.
Six bodies of both genders littered the floor, all with the mask of the Ne division of ANBU, from Konoha. In the middle of that carnage was the one thing he had prayed to the God he had long since stopped believing in that he would not see. Old blood pooled around the body, turning the elegant white robe a rusty red, and green eyes stared unseeingly at the ceiling. The back of the man's bald head was collapsed, and pink goo was oozing through the cracks. His chest was carved open from his collar bone to his stomach, and opened to reveal broken ribs and pulverized organs.
"T-tetsu-san!" The boy gasped as his stomach rolled, and everything he had eaten that day came up violently. He didn't remember summoning Kyuu, but he felt one of the foxes tails rap comfortingly around him, lifting him onto the demon's back. Kyuubi walked out of the house, and one of his tails swept back to set it on fire, and the hungry flame devoured the wooden timber and flesh and bone of the victims of fate.
Naruto never looked back, and the memories of his time with the grandfatherly man became nightmares, twisted by the sight of the man's mangled body. Over time even the nightmares came less frequently.
Not only was Eien carrying out his own revenge, now, he was avenging the wise man that died because he was too strong.
End Flashback
Eien didn't notice the single, lonely tear that made it's way down his whiskered cheek, but Kakashi did. The story was tragic, and until the seemingly unfeeling dictator had let that one tear go, the jounin thought it was made up.
But no one could fake the utter despair in the blue eyes, the haunting misery as the blond lost himself in memories that he didn't recount.
Finally the teenager's eyes snapped to the present, and he realized he had just told the story that no one else knew, that not even Gaara had heard, to this almost absolute stranger.
What was it that compelled him to reveal his deepest secret to this man?
I seriously cried while writing that flashback, like, pouring tears. Just picture it, Naruto finally trusts someone, and Konoha rips him away. You'll find out why eventually. But for now, it's bedtime! Oyasumi nasai!
